Justice for Zidane the cruellest blow

SO, we shall now speak of Zinedine Zidane in the past but, more
significantly, how shall we remember him?

As a World Cup-winning wizard who conjured goals and trophies? A
hero to millions in France, a national symbol - the son of Algerian
immigrants - whose face was beamed onto the Arc de Triomphe in
Paris? Or as the figure who was forcibly retired by referee Horacio
Elizondo after a rush of rage?

Genius often treads a thin line with madness and in Berlin on
Sunday, Zidane, playing the final game of his career, exploded.
Only Zidane, Marco Materazzi and perhaps a collection of Italian
lip readers know what words were exchanged between the two but the
full stop was Zizou's career.

Zidane speaks Italian from his time at Juventus but perhaps now
wishes his knowledge of the language was not sufficient to
comprehend whatever it was that Materazzi verbally unleashed.

Materazzi had a game to remember. He conceded the penalty that
allowed Zidane to open the scoring and then headed the equaliser at
the other end. Then, in extra time, he contrived to tweak Zidane's
nipple and mumbled something to cause Zidane to turn, spin and
launch his head into the Italian's chest like a battering ram.

Elizondo conferred with his assistants, advice also coming from
Italy's Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro, and came to the
unfortunately correct decision to wave goodbye to Zidane with a red
card.

Materazzi wound up Zidane but when you're the captain of your
country, playing a World Cup final as your last game before
retirement, it is advisable not to charge at an opponent, no matter
how undesirable, like a wounded bull.

"I am not going to the World Cup to play the clown," Zidane said
before the tournament. He came out of international retirement last
year to help steer Raymond Domenech's side to Germany. At Berlin's
Olympiastadion, "A Time To Remember" was emblazoned on a plinth
behind one of the goals. The stage was set for a fitting
farewell.

Before kick-off, fans danced on their seats, dressed in little
more than swimmers and bikinis, with "ZIZOU", Zidane's nickname,
spelled out across their naked torsos.

Their hero started the game with a penalty that rattled in off
the crossbar to make him only the fourth player to score in two
World Cup finals.

Only the most sceptical would suggest the kick did not bounce in
as he had rehearsed.

For the rest of the match, there were subtle touches, flicks,
weighted balls on a yo-yo string. There were no mazy dribbles, like
Maradona or Pele. Instead, he was an apparition who ghosted through
defences, as in the second half of extra time when he passed the
ball to Willy Sagnol out wide, shimmied through a wall of defenders
and rose for a header that required the best from Buffon. It would
have won the game but for Buffon's equal brilliance.

Perhaps this World Cup was never to be Zidane's fairytale
comeback. Three weeks ago, during the group stages, his
contribution was questioned by a usually reverential French press.
He missed the final match against Togo, his 34th birthday, having
collected two yellow cards and the team won, 2-0.

His career began on the streets of Marseilles where he was
spotted by talent scouts at the age of 14. Twenty years later he
had won a World Cup, a European Championship, scored wonder goals
in Champions League finals and orchestrated the midfield for
France, Real Madrid and Juventus and been crowned FIFA's World
Player of the Year.

After Zidane's red card, the stadium howled in protest whenever
an Italian touched the ball. Zidane was wrong but the Italians were
cast as the villains.

In a World Cup of much injustice, the cruellest irony was that
when justice was finally served, it turned out the lights on a
glittering career.